Cause and Effect: A Naruto Fanfic
by KamikazeBonsai
Summary: The story of Neji and Tenten. Before FTTD - From Tragedy to Deliverance.
1. Chapter 1

Neji backed away, trying to catch his breath. He and Tenten had been training for hours now. Tenten sat on the ground, her head to the clouds above. Neji made his way over to her and sat next to her. Tenten looked over at him. The look on his face made her frown.

"Neji.. What's up?" Neji glanced at her and shook his head.

"Nothing... it's just something Hiashi-Sama said." Tenten sat up straight and looked at him.

"What did he say?" Neji sighed.

"He told me that I'm going to have to get married soon. Since I'm almost eighteen."

"That's it?" Neji shook his head.

"No. He also said that I have to marry one of the girls in Konoha or at least that has ties to Konoha."

"Oh..." Now Tenten knew the problem. Neji not only didn't want to get married but he despised almost all of the girls in Konoha. Well that's because most of them were fangirls. Neji growled in frustration.

"Neji it's not that bad..." Neji looked at Tenten.

"I have two weeks to find someone or else I get set up with someone... that I don't know." Tenten frowned for a moment before jumping to her feet.

"I have an idea! I can help you find someone!" Neji watched as Tenten paced back and forth, plotting things in her mind.

"Ok Neji.. let's get to work." Neji shook his head but stood and followed Tenten off the training grounds.

"Ok Neji... go home, change and come to my apartment so we can begin the search." Neji nodded and turned to go back to the Manor. Tenten ran to her apartment and showered. She pulled on a light blue top and black training pants. She went into the kitchen to put some tea on when there was a knock on the door. Tenten whipped around, the towel on her head almost falling off. Tenten walked to he door readjusting the towel at the same time. Tenten opened the door and let Neji in. He slipped off his sandals and made his way into the apartment.

"Ok so... I was thinking..." Tenten trailed off as she walked into the kitchen. Neji sat on the couch and waited for her to return. She came back with two cups of tea and a notepad. She folded her leg underneath her before sitting.

"So I was thinking that we should make a list of all the girls you know... Even if you hate them." Neji looked at her and nodded.

"Ok start naming people..." Neji stayed quiet for a while.

"Sakura. Ino. Hin-"

"Neji."

"You said name girls." Tenten rolled her eyes.

"Yes girls that you'd possibly marry... not your cousin." Neji shrugged and continued thinking.

" Temari...There aren't any other girls." Tenten put her pen down.

"Ok then... What about Sakura?" Neji glared at her.

"What's wrong with Sakura?"

"That Uchiha driven love lunatic?"

"Okay... what about Ino?"

"She's annoying." Tenten sighed. This was going to be harder than she thought.

"Ok Temari?"

"She's dating Shikamaru I believe." Tenten sighed in frustration and slumped back into the couch. Her towel fell off her head letting her brown hair cascade down to her shoulder blades. Neji looked at Tenten. He'd never seen her with her hair down. It actually looked nicer down than in her signature buns.

"Nice hair." Tenten looked at Neji with a confused gaze before realizing her hair had fallen out of her towel. Tenten stood up and ran into her room, closing the door behind her. Neji sat stunned. 'What just happened?' He stood and walked down the hall to her room. He opened the door and saw her putting her hair back into buns.

"Tenten...what was that?" She turned to he door and looked at him.

"Hinata's coming..." Neji frowned but turned when there was a knock on the door. Tenten slipped past him to answer the door. Tenten opened the door and let Hinata in.

"H-Hi Tenten. Is Neji-san here with you?" Tenten nodded and as if on cue Neji walked down the hallway.

"N-Neji-san... Papa wants to invite Tenten to dinner..."Neji's eyes narrowed and Tenten looked at Hinata in shock.

"For what?" Hinata looked at Tenten.

"I-I'm not s-sure really... He just said to go get Neji and Tenten and tell them to get ready for d-dinner at the main house..." Neji sighed and moved to Hinata's side.

"Tenten get dressed." Tenten looked down.

"I AM dressed." He scowled at her.

"No in a kimono or something... I'll be back to pick you up in an hour." Tenten stood dumbfounded in her spot as Hinata and Neji walked out of her apartment. Tenten sighed and shuffled back to her room. Now to find something to wear.


	2. Chapter 2

Tenten walked to her closet and grabbed a suitcase from the back. She pulled it out and set it on her bed. Opening it she started pulling out Kimonos. Black, Red, White, Blue, Purple and, God forbid, Pink. She folded her arms and lightly chewed on her bottom. She finally settled on a red dress her mother had given her. It had a huge slit that ran up the right side to about mid-thigh. On the front was a giant rose embroidered in black. Tenten shook her head and started getting undressed. She slipped on the kimono and moved to the mirror. She took her hair out of the buns and ran a brush through her hair. She twisted her hair and flipped it up. Grabbing a black clip with red roses on it she clipped her hair up and watched as the rest of her waves fell over the top of the clip. Tenten brushed her bangs to the side and opened her make-up box. Why she had one she didn't even know. It's not like she used the stuff on a regular basis. Tenten shrugged and patted her cheeks with rouge. She grabbed her light piink lip gloss and dabbed at her lips. She put on a little glitter eyeshadow and splashed some cherry blossom perfume on her wrists and her neckline. She slid on her black bangles and slipped on the heels Tsunade gave her for a birthday present. She stepped away from her dresser and looked herself over. 'Ok... this looks nice...' she thought as she ran to grab her black handbag. She walked into the the kitchen to turn out the light when neji knocked on the door. She opened and smiled. He was all dolled up in his black Hyuuga robe. That one he only wore for special occasions. He looked at Tenten. 'God... she looks... gorgeous..' He thought as she talked to him. She suddenly turned and walked away only to return with a package of some sort.

"Ready?" He nodded and the two walked out of the apartment and towards the Hyuuga Manor.

Tenten had been here many times but it looked different at night. She walked silently next to Neji. Neji glanced at her but kept walking. He led her to the main entrance of the Manor. The door opened and the two walked in. Neji led her into the main dining hall. Tenten peeked in. There were far more people than she had suspected to be there. She gulped and took a timid step backwards into Neji. He leaned down and whispered in her ear.

"It's fine... just go in and sit next to Hinata." Tenten nodded once and walked into the room, followed by Neji. Hiashi stood and the room quieted instantly. They all turned and looked at Tenten and Neji. Tenten's grip on the package tightened slightly. She did NOT like to be in large crowds.

"Tenten-San glad you could make it. I hope it wasn't an inconvience to you." Tenten forced a smile and shook her head.

"It was no trouble at all... in fact I'm honored that you invited me." Hiashi nodded and motioned to the seats near Hinata. Tenten didn't move so Neji gently grabbed her elbow, making her move. Tenten scanned the setting. 'There has to be at least 50 people here...' She thought as Neji motioned for her to sit. She shook her head.

"Um... Hiashi-Sama I brought you and your wife a small token of my gratitude." She held out the black box. Hiashi looked at it for a moment before taking it. "

I appreciate this Tenten-San. Please...sit.. dinner is about to begin." Tenten sat and watched as about ten servers came out with food platters. She jumped when she felt a hand on her thigh. "Relax." Neji whispered. Tenten looked at him.

"Neji you know I don't like large crowds and... everyone's staring at me." She whispered back as she scanned the people sitting at the table.

"The women are giving me dirty looks..." Neji lightly scanned the room to confirm Tenten's statement. She wasn't lying... everyone WAS looking at her and the women didn't look to happy that she was there either.

"Ignore them." Tenten sighed defeatedly and looked up when the woman in front of her cleared her throat.

"Hello. I'm Reiko. Your Tenten right?" Tenten looked at the woman and nodded slowly. Reiko smiled.

"So are you and Neji-San getting married?" Tenten was taken aback by the woman's question.

"Um... actually Neji and I are-"

"Hello you two!" Another woman said from behind them. Tenten and Neji turned at the sound of her voice.

"Hi I'm Miko."

"Hello.. I'm-"

"You're Tenten. We've heard so much about you! I know you two will be very happy." She said before smiling and walking away. Ok, Tenten was confused. These people kept talking like she and Neji were dating or something. Tenten shook her head. 'No that's not it.. I'm just overreacting... Yeah..' She took a deep breath and began eating her dinner.

Neji watched Tenten as she ate. Something was wrong. Tenten's chakra was decreasing slowly. "Tente-" He was cut off when Tenten passed out. Neji caught her and shook her gently.

"Tenten. Tenten. Can you hear me?" He checked her pulse, it was increased.

"Dammit." He muttered under his breath.

"Is Tenten-San alright?" Hiashi said as he leaned over to see Tenten. Neji looked at Hiashi and shook his head.

"Her chakra is decreasing and her pulse is irratic..." Everyone gasped and started nervous chatter. Neji scooped Tenten into his arms bridal style and stood.

"I'm taking her to the hospital." He said over his shoulder as he walked out of the hall.


	3. Chapter 3

Tenten groaned. She felt horrible. Her head was pounding and she was really thirsty. Not to mention it seemed hard to move. She slowly opened her eyes and blinked against the bright light.

"Mmmh." Neji sat up.

"Tenten. Can you hear me?" She nodded slowly.

"W-Water." she rasped out. Neji reached over to the table next to her bed and grabbed the glass of water that was brought for her a few minutes ago. He handed it to her and helped her drink it.

"Where am I?" Neji stood up.

"The hospital." Tenten frowned. The hospital? Wasn't she supposed to be having dinner with Hiashi and the rest of the Hyuuga clan?

"Why?" Neji shrugged.

"Something affected your system. Your chakra was decreasing and your pulse was irratic so I brought you here." She nodded and sat up, swinging her legs over the edge of the hospital bed. She braced herself on her feet and attempted to walk but fell into Neji's arms.

"Take it easy Tenten."

"I'm fine. Let's go back." Neji frowned.

"Back to the dinner?" Tenten nodded but immediately regretted it. Her head was sent spiralling. She squeezed her eyes closed to make the spinning stop. Neji shook his head.

"You are going to stay right here until you get better."

"I'm fine. Take me back Neji." Neji sighed but picked her up bridal style again. He grabbed her handbag and her shoes, which her put on her, and went to sign her out of the hospital.

"Leaving so soon Neji?" Ino asked as she handed Neji the sign-out papers. Neji nodded.

"Tenten insists on going back to the dinner." Ino nodded and waved as they walked out of the hospital.

He took her back to the Hyuuga Manor and set her on her feet when they entered. Neji wrapped his arm around her waist so he would be able to catch her if she collasped or passed out again. He navigated them back to their seats and sat Tenten down before taking his seat.

"Are you feeling better Tenten-San?" Tenten turned to Hiashi and nodded. She inwardly cursed herself for noddding because it sent her head spinning again. Neji saw Tenten squeeze her eyes closed again. He sighed and pulled her into his lap. He looked down at her and shook his head.

"Are you ok?" He whispered. Tenten let out a small whimper.

"My head is pounding." She mumbled back to him.

"I told you to stay." Neji felt Tenten start to relax in his arms. He reached up and unclipped her hair to try and relieve the pain in her head. Normally she would've argued with him but she wasn't in the mood to fight him. He slowly stroked her hair, completely unaware of the strange looks he was recieveing.Tenten started to fall asleep in Neji's arms as Hinata's mother leaned towards him.

"Neji take her home. She doesn't seem to be doing to good." Neji looked up and nodded.

"Stay with her so if something happens she'll have someone there with her." Neji tightened his grip on Tenten as he stood. He walked out of the Dining hall again and made his way to Tenten's apartment. He fished in her handbag for her key with his free hand. He eventually got the door open and he went inside. He set her on her bed and looked at her. He knew he shouldn't leave her in her kimono but he didn't want to change her and have her wake up. He sighed and folded his arms. 'I guess that's just a risk i'll have to take.' He thought as he moved to Tenten's sleeping form. He pulled off her heels and placed them on the floor. Neji turned to what he assumed to be her dresser and fished out a pair of blue pajama pants and a matching tank top. He turned back towards Tenten and unzipped her dress. He slipped off the dress and attempted to put on her tank top simultaneously. It didn't work the way he wished it would. He took off her dress all together and then put on her sleep clothes. He picked her up and pulled her sheets back. Neji laid Tenten in her bed and tucked her in. He turned off the light and grabbed the dress. He placed it on her dresser as he left the room, closing the door behind him. He sighed and layed on the couch. He closed his eyes. 'Might as well get comfortable.. I'm going to be here for a while...' He thought before drifting off to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Tenten rolled over and glanced at the clock on her nightstand. '2:30 am...' She sat up and stretched. She flung her legs over the side of her bed and stumbled into the hallway. Tenten made it into the living room only to stop. She stared at the couch for a while before moving. She slowly turned and shuffeld back to the hall closet. Pulling out a pillow and a blanket that she normally carried on missions Tenten walked over to the couch. She gently reached out and lifted Neji's head. He realeased a breath that caused Tenten to freeze. After reassuring herself that he wasn't going wake up, she shoved the pillow under his head and spread the blanket over him. Tenten shook her head and smiled. 'Typical Neji...' she thought as she grabbed a glass of water and headed back to bed.

Ring. Ring.

'What is that God awful sound?' Neji groaned and opened his eyes. He looked around before sitting up.

Ring. Ring.

Neji turned to the table and picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hello This is Namasute Yuri calling from Konoha Hospital is Tenten home?" The nurse said in a too-cheery-for-eight-o'clock-in-the-morning way.

"Yes but she's asleep."

"Oh... Well Is a Hyuuga Neji there?"

"Speaking."

"Ok well I'm calling to say that we have the results from the tests we ran on Tenten..."

"And?"

"It seems that Tenten was poisioned. It hadn't been in her system long enough to do what it was meant to do but it obviously had some affect."

'What it was meant to do?' Neji thought.

"What was it meant to do?" He asked suspiciously.

"Well.. If injested it increases your heart rate while also decreasing your chakra. If it's not treated it constricts the air way causing the person to suffocate, from lack of air, and choke on their blood since the blood flow has been increased also. It's normally only used by shinobi as a torture method."

Neji's mind was on overload. Why would someone try and poison Tenten especially with such a dangerous drug? And why was it in the food that was served at the dinner?

"Hyuuga-Dono Are you still there?"

"Hn."

"What I said was that if it was possible we would like her to come in sometime today so we could run a couple more tests on her just to make sure everthing is ok."

"I'll bring her in."

"Thank you. Have a nice day." Neji clicked off the phone and set it back on the table.

"Who was that?" Neji turned at the sound of Tenten's voice.

"The hospital."

"Really? What did they want?" Neji leaned against the table. Tenten wandered into the kitchen. looking for something to eat. He folded his arms and scowled at the floor.

"They want you to come in for further testing." That made Tenten stop what she was doing. She peeked her head around the kitchen wall.

"Testing for what?" Neji rubbed his eyes in frustration. He could feel a headache coming on.

"You were poisoned last night. It was a poison that is normally only used for torture tactics."

Tenten stayed quiet. That was wierd. Why would someone try to poison her? She grabbed her bowl of left over fish and rice and sat at the table.

"I told them I'd bring you in today..." Tenten nodded as she munched on her fish.

"Hungry?" Neji looked down and shook his head.

"I'm going to go home and change."

"I'll meet you there in half an hour." Neji nodded once and left. Tenten finished her 'breakfast' and placed her bowl in the sink.

"Time to get ready..." Tenten mumbled and walked into the bathroom.

Neji walked into the Main Entrance. He slipped off his shoes and made his way down the hallway.

"Neji?" He stopped and turned at the sound of his name. Hiroma, Hinata's mother, walked towards him drying her hands on a dishcloth. He turned to her and bowed.

"How's she doing?"

"Fine considering she was poisoned." He started to walk off.

"She was poisoned?" He stopped at the sound of Hiashi's voice. He looked at Hiashi and bowed.

"Yes... with a drug that's normally used for torture tactics."

"Hmmm.." Hiashi nodded.

"She'll be alright yes?" Neji's eyes averted from Hiashi to Hiroma.

"I'm taking her back to the hospital pretty soon... they want to run more tests."

"Oh well hurry along... Wouldn't want you to be late..." He turned and walked to his room.

Neji closed the door and pulled off his dress robe. He turned and grabbed a clean Hyuuga robe from his closet and slipped it on over his white tank top. He changed pants and brushed his hair quickly. He walked into the bathroom and brushed his teeth. He had just finished rinsing off his toothbrush when he heard Tenten's voice.

"Tenten dear how are you feeling?"

"Oh I'm fine Hiroma-Sama... My head hurts a little still but other than that..."

"That's good. You know... Neji was worried about you. He might not act like it but I can tell..." Tenten chuckled and looked down the hallway.

"Hey Neji." He ambled down the hallway and stopped at Tenten's side.

"Ready?" Tenten nodded and Neji led her out the door.


End file.
